Social Media

YouTube's 20 Most-Shared Ads in January [VIDEOS]

From last year's Super Bowl to the upcoming big game, here are the 20 most-shared ads from January, 2012.

Advertisers are increasingly catering to the web before taking commercials to television. Teasers or previews to advertisements are becoming as common as movie trailers. Last year, Volkswagen showcased a teaser to its infamous Star Wars-themed Super Bowl ad. The car company has successfully followed the same strategy for this year's big game, even tying in the same theme.

Following suit, this year Honda also released a teaser for its homage to the 1986 classic, Ferris Bueller's Day Off — complete with Matthew Broderick himself. The nine-second clip was almost as successfully shared as the full-length video.

Action-packed videos are also always well-shared, as shown by ads such as Ken Block's Gymkhana Four for DC Shoes, the movie trailer for Nitro Circus and GoPro's ad for its HD Hero2 camera. Lastly, there are a number of ads that tug at your heartstrings, as shown by Coca-Cola's advice from a 100-year-old man, or the David Confield Melanoma Fund shows in its "Dear 16 Year-Old Me" video.

Our friends at Viral Video compiled a list of the 20 most-shared YouTube ads for the month of January. Some followed over from 2011, while others are from as recent as last week. Are there any that surprise you? Let us know in the comments.

YouTube's 20 Most-Shared Ads in January

1. "The Bark Side" (Volkswagen)

Shares: 637,493

After Volkwagen's Super Bowl ad went viral last year, the company is serving up another round of Star Wars-themed advertising. The collection of dogs barking to the movie's theme song is just the teaser (the full commercial was just recently released) but it still put Volkswagen back on top.

2. "Mega Song" (Megaupload)

Shares: 581,559

Although Megaupload was recently shut down, the site's ad lives on. The video features the voices of P. Diddy, Wil.i.am, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Chris Brown, The Game and Mary J Blige -- all of whom endorsed the service.

3. "The Joy of Books" (Type)

Shares: 248,726

A small bookstore in Toronto took organization to the next level with this stop animation video. The husband and wife who created the video and owned the store were inspired after a project rearranging their bookshelf at home.

4. "Matthew's Day Off" (Honda)

Shares: 212,489

Matthew Broderick, a la Ferris Bueller, has reunited with the character for Honda's CR-V Super Bowl commercial. The video is filled with various references to the 1986 film.

5. "Si Lemhaf: Kharrej Legrinta Elli Fik" (Coca-Cola)

Shares: 186,247

The official Coca-Cola anthem for the national soccer team of Tunisia. The hymn is sung by Tunisian electro-pop artist Si Lemhaf.

6. "Game of Thrones Season 2: 'Shadow' Tease" (HBO)

Shares: 158,523

To prepare fans for the second season of this award-winning HBO show, this official trailer was the first of a few to be released with actual footage from the upcoming episodes.

7. "Coming Soon" (Honda)

Shares: 103,956

Before the full-length YouTube ad came out, Honda teased its audience with this nine-second clip featuring the familiar face and theme song to Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The video has already been viewed nearly five million times.

8. "Maxwell the Pig Returns! Zip-Line Piggy" (GEICO)

Shares: 97,421

In 2010, GEICO introduced Maxwell the pig, as he "weee'd" all the way home. This year, to introduce the company's new app, the little piggy is back and on a zip-line.

English actor Vinnie Jones gives a hands-on CPR lesson to the tune of "Staying Alive." The British Heart Foundation took a comedic approach to teaching a valuable lesson, and it successfully spread across the web.

10. "Smart Thief Caught on Cam" (LG)

Shares: 68,615

This clever guerrilla-style ad proves just how slim the world's slimmest television is. LG makes a bold move, humorously showing how easy it could be to steal one of its televisions. The video might make you have to watch twice if you don't pay close attention.

11. "Nitro Circus the Movie 3D Official Trailer" (Nitro Circus)

Shares: 93,583

TV series Nitro Circus reveals the trailer to their 3D movie, which will leave you cringing. Action always sells, and launching a person into the water from a "blob" that's more than 30 stories in the air is just one of the scenes released in the trailer.

12. "Resident Evil 6 Reveal Trailer" (Capcom)

Shares: 95,632

The sixth series in the Resident Evil franchise lives on since its debut in 1996, and fans are obviously excited about it. The trailer for the game has already been viewed 2,495,566 times.

13. "Dear 16 Year-Old Me" (David Cornfield Melanoma Fund)

Shares: 1,194,849

This moving video captures real people of various ages, genders and ethnicity speaking to their former 16 year-old selves, before they were diagnosed with melanoma. It's incredibly heartfelt and gives a very realistic depiction of what someone diagnosed with cancer, or those who lost someone diagnosed, wish they would have known earlier.

14. "Schticky Commercial" (Shamwow)

Shares: 50,649

Vince Offer, of Shamwow fame, somehow manages to take a household product, and make it chock full of innuendos. Although it's a TV infommercial, it proved to be quite effective on the web.

15. "100 Year-Old Man Shares the Secret to Happiness" (Coca-Cola)

Shares: 56,604

Coca-Cola in the Philippines released this commercial -- which we chose to share the version with English subtitles -- to celebrate its 125th anniversary. The video features a heart-warming message from a 100 year-old man. His advice is simple: "find what makes you happy."

16. "Ken Block's Gymkhana Four; The Hollywood Megamercial" (DC Shoes)

Shares: 2,179,102

This lengthy, action-packed "Megamercial" is presented by Ken Block and DC Shoes. Directed by Ben Conrad, of Zombieland fame, it is chock full of zombies, firey stunts, robotic sharks and Epic Meal Time. This combination resulted in huge success for the video.

17. "The HD Hero2: 2x as Powerful in Every Way" (GoPro)

Shares: 418,151

Shot completely on GoPro's HD Hero2, this documentary-style video features athletes, adventurists and filmmakers who were asked to take the camera in their own hands and come up with this footage. The result might make you want to leave your desk immediately and go do something crazy outside.

18. "The Force" (Volkswagen)

Shares: 4,808,661

The 2011 Volkswagen Super Bowl ad still makes the list a year later. The video features a "pint-sized Darth Vader" who discovers the Force in his driveway. It's incredibly cute and humorous, and was obviously well-executed because it held the highest amount of shares in 2011.

19. "Zeitgeist 2011: Year in Review" (Google)

Shares: 491,854

Google released its annual Zeitgeist report, which revealed the most popular search terms of 2011 by region and worldwide. Top searches included YouTube celebrity Rebecca Black, Google+, Ryan Dunn and Casey Anthony.

20. "Vampire Party" (Audi)

Shares: 39,655

Audi uses a creative way to show off its new LED headlights -- vampires. The topic has been popular over the past few years in pop culture. The car company also incorporates social media into the campaign, by adding the hashtag #SoLongVampires so the conversation can continue on Twitter.

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